Market Place

Digital Access

Home Delivery

Want to make sure you receive the latest local news? We’ve got you covered! Get the best in local news, sports, community events, with focus on what’s coming up for the weekend. Weekly mail subscription offers

St. Ambrose recruit has team-high eight goals for 8-1-1 Bulldogs

Gracey DiBiase had spent her entire soccer career focused on preventing goals.

Now she's’s scoring them.

The Batavia senior switched positions this spring at the request of Bulldogs coach Mark Gianfrancesco, who like Cubs manager Joe Maddon prizes versatility in his players.

The move has made an unlikely star of DiBiase. She has tallied a team-leading eight goals for the Bulldogs, who are off to a surprising 8-1-1 start following a 1-0 win over Downers Grove South on Thursday.

“I’ve been a defender since I was 5 except for my sophomore year of high school when I played defensive center mid,” DiBiase said. “But [Gianfrancesco] will look at us and whatever he needs us to play he will put us there.

“We just have to be open and adaptive to any position. So moving from defense to forward is obviously a really big step, but you have to have the courage and the ability to step up to that role and play there.”

DiBiase, a St. Ambrose recruit, has done that with aplomb. After graduation claimed most of the goal scorers from last year’s 14-4-2 team, Gianfrancesco needed to find some offense.

With the bulk of the returning talent on defense, he asked DiBiase to be more offensive-minded. He played her at outside midfield at the start of the season before switching her to forward, where her powerful left leg has given opposing goalkeepers fits.

“She can curve it very well, especially with the wind,” said Downers South goalkeeper Angel Biondo, who made several great diving saves on DiBiase. “She uses the wind and she has a very strong kick.”

Defense actually built the foundation of DiBiase’s success. Having played in the back, she knows how best to pick apart defenses.

“Defense really helped me with the forward position because since I was all the way back I can see the whole field and see what’s open,” DiBiase said. “So I kind of have that mindset that I know where those runs are and I can picture where to go.

“Sometimes it’s hard to time those runs because I’m so impatient and I want to just go, but I also have to stay onside and hold the ball but [my experience] on defense really helps me recognizing the through balls and recognizing where I’m supposed to be.”

It is clear that DiBiase belongs up front for the Bulldogs. The defense remains strong as senior Amy TenHaken and junior Jenna Nichols have stepped up and led a unit that has surrendered only four goals.

The presence of DiBiase, meanwhile, has taken some of the pressure off the other forwards.

“It’s great to have her up there,” said Batavia junior forward Zaira Solis, who tallied her first career game-winning goal against Downers South. “She creates so many opportunities for all of us and her shot is on point all the time.

“I just feel really good having her up there with me. I wouldn’t want her on the defense, even though she’s composed back there.”

“My philosophy always is, especially at the start of the year, be open to playing anywhere because I look for players that can play two or three positions,” Gianfrancesco said. “When a senior like Gracey is willing to do that, that shows everybody else and they say, ‘Hey, look, this is not my usual spot but I’m willing to give it a go and see how well I can do.’

“That opens everybody else to be available to change and be good teammates.”

Gianfrancesco said DiBiase can be successful at any position and her confidence is growing with that realization. St. Ambrose recruited her as a defensive midfielder but may give her an opportunity to play a more offensive role.

“I’m really happy,” DiBiase said. “I’m good at playing defense but sometimes it gets tiring and after a while I need a little switch-up in position and I’ve had a great time playing forward.
“I love being out there and I love what I’m doing.”